The ABA has an interesting article about using Google Alerts to help out lawyers.

Watching the Digital Radar with Google News Alerts
By Sharon Nelson and John Simek

Read here.

This suggestion was especially interesting:
▪ Gauge your return on investment for marketing activities—for example, if you send out a press release or host a national seminar, enter identifying terms for it and see how often it appears in blogs and on the Internet generally.